The State Of Solar Photovoltaics

A recent report from Lux Research, an independent research and advisory firm, concluded that lack of standardization, low production volumes, and formidable competition from building applied photovoltaics (BAPV) will hinder broader adoption of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) through 2013.

An example of BIPV, which is installed at an REI store in Boulder, CO. (Photo: Scott Dressel-Martin)

BIPV are PV components that replace the look and function of a primary building material, and are sold as a single unit. Compared with BIPV, BAPV encompass a broader class of building mounted photovoltaics and include some traditional roof mounted PV systems.

Entitled “Laying the Foundation for Building Integrated Photovoltaics,” Lux’s report sought to provide insights for building materials, chemical, and photovoltaics entities on: opportunities for entering the market; likely candidates for strategic partnerships; market developments and new technologies that will foster success; and how conventional and thin-film solar technologies will compete in specific applications

“The market may be too small to be a central interest to big players, but we see key opportunities for technology providers that can deliver BIPV components with an aesthetic differentiation—as opposed to a cost differentiation,” said Johanna Schmidtke, a Lux Research analyst and lead author of the report. “That also applies to architects and building envelope specialists who can distinguish their own businesses, while raising awareness of BIPV.”

The report taps Lux Research’s database of solar PV technology providers and installations for details about the 81 companies engaged in BIPV work. It includes intelligence gathered through 29 additional interviews with PV technology providers, module/system developers, PV installers, building suppliers, and architects to offer a comprehensive view of the BIPV market. Findings included:

High price points and a lack of standardization are slowing adoption. Highly customized products and low production volumes are putting a drag on BIPV’s claim that it lowers costs by streamlining installation of building product and PV technology. High price points will limit growth to $5.7 billion over 694 MW in 2013, signifying just 3.7% by volume of the overall solar market.

Improved regulation, building services, and materials could all boost demand. BIPV-specific subsidies and aesthetics have driven growth more than economic viability. But standardized regulations covering BIPV’s dual role as building component and PV technology could control customization issues, and reduce the technology’s prohibitive price points.

BAPV will dominate for the foreseeable future. BIPV currently wields aesthetic and subsidy-based advantages over BAPV retrofits. But PV module manufacturers are shoring up the aesthetic gap, which will further pressure BIPV players to decrease the price premium they exact.

“BIPV is nearing a crossroads,” said Schmidtke. “It will either continue to grow slowly as a highly specialized, aesthetic niche market, or bridge the gap between the PV and building industries. The latter path will require industry standards, as well as innovation and investment. But it also offers genuine growth opportunities for well positioned parties.”

Growth Of Solar Energy Industry Overall

Meanwhile, solar energy deployment increased at a record pace in the United States and throughout the world in 2008, according to another industry report. On March 19, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) released its “2008 U.S. Solar Industry Year in Review,” which

The SEIA report found U.S. solar energy capacity increased by 17% last year.

reaching the equivalent of 8,775 megawatts (MW). The SEIA report tallies all types of solar energy, and last year the United States installed 342 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) electric power, 139 thermal megawatts (MWTh) of solar water heating, 762 MWTh of pool heating, and 21 MWTh of solar space heating and cooling.

The growth rate was highest for grid connected PV electric systems, which increased by 58% to a total of 792 MW. California dominated this category, installing 178.6 MW of grid-tied PV, but the largest PV system, at 10 MW, was built in Boulder City, NV. Meanwhile, domestic PV manufacturing capacity increased by 65%, and preliminary estimates peg the total U.S. PV manufacturing capacity at 685 MW per year as of the end of 2008.

SEIA estimates that 342 MW of PV were installed throughout the United States in 2008, and although Solarbuzz LLC reached a higher number of 360 MW for its annual PV industry report, that growth rate is still dwarfed by the world’s fastest growing PV markets, namely, Spain and Germany. According to Solarbuzz, Spain added 2,460 MW of solar PV power in 2008, while Germany added 1,860 MW of PV power, leaving the United States in a distant third place. Solarbuzz estimates the global market growth at 5,950 MW in 2008. World PV production reached 6,850 MW per year in 2008, a significant jump up from the capacity of 3,440 MW per year for 2007. Contributing to that rapid growth, the production of thin-film solar modules more than doubled, reaching 890 MW per year by the end of 2008.

6 Responses

Hello Fred, Thanks for your comment. The BAPV (building applied photovoltaics) term was included in the report information from Lux Research. I had not seen that term before either; however, it appears to be used in some instances (a Internet search of the term rendered a number of results for German websites, so perhaps is more commonly used in Europe). Also, I did not find the term on the SEIA website--another indication the term may not be very prevalent in the U.S.

Facility Executive Tweets | Sponsored by:

Full Skyscraper 300×600

ArticleBoxBTF

Photo credit: University of Michigan The University of Michigan recently celebrated the opening of Mcity, the world’s first controlled environment specifically designed to test the potential of connected and automated vehicle technologies that will lead the way to mass-market driverless cars. “We believe that this transformation to connected and automated mobility will be a game changer for safety, for efficiency, for energy, and for... [...]

In June 2015, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced that its 2015 EDF Climate Corps fellows had been deployed to organizations throughout the United States, Mexico, and China to begin the work of cutting costs and carbon emissions through improved energy management. Now in its eighth year, EDF Climate Corps pairs fellows—top graduate students from the nation’s leading universities—with companies, cities, schools,... [...]

Credit: Jupiter Research The number of IoT (Internet of Things) connected devices will reach 38.5 billion in 2020, up from 13.4 billion in 2015: an increase of more than 285%, according to new data from Juniper Research. While IoT “smart home” based applications are grabbing media headlines, it is the industrial and public services sector – such as retail, agriculture, smart buildings and smart grid applications –... [...]

About Facility Executive

Facility Executive is your one-stop source for information on quality operation, design and maintenance of facilities. Facility Executive offers a shared community of facility management experts who explore and analyze issues that affect your facility and its environment.

Facility Executive is a specialized trade publication written and edited for corporate facility executives in all industry and service sectors whose responsibilities include purchasing, planning and approving products, services and materials for facility operations.

Previous Posts

Public urinators, beware! In at least two cities, a new approach to discourage peeing in inappropriate places could leave public urinators wet and smelly. San Francisco, CA and Hamburg, Germany have both applied pee-repellent paint to walls where... [...]

By Charles C. Carpenter, CFMfrom the July/August 2015 issueWarning signs of violence was a topic addressed in this column back in 2013. Since that time, things may not have improved for facility executives as violence in various facility types... [...]

By Robert Greenfrom the July/August 2015 issueOn a global level, restroom hygiene is a major point of concern when promoting public and personal health—especially in high traffic areas where customers and employees are closely interacting (e.g.,... [...]

By Skye WitherspoonLEED certification’s drive for energy efficiency and resource conservation has led to high performance, sustainable buildings. However, this transformation hides a more substantive change, one that has come about as our... [...]

Metro Student Union Building (Photo Courtesy Jason Hudson)Prompted by federal lead-free laws that went into effect in January 2014, three separate colleges located on the shared, 150-acre Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, CO chose Zurn... [...]

Photo: Provenance HotelsBy Anne Cosgrove from the July/August 2015 issueLocated in New Orleans’ Warehouse Arts District, blocks from the French Quarter, walking distance to the Superdome, and a short stroll from the city’s Convention Center,... [...]

by Todd Kiehnby July/August 2015 issueWhen the power feed from a utility is interrupted, the lights go out, operations are stalled, and productivity plummets. That’s why many facilities have installed critical power equipment to ensure uptime... [...]